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Barhopping in Portland is a mixed bag, from the throngs of 20-somethings who descend on Old Port bars for a night of drinking to the hybrid bar habitués who are more focused on well made food and drink served in stylish surroundings.

While there’s a bevy of highly regarded restaurants in town with popular bars, the stand alone lounge per se is a newcomer.

  

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Not that ago, finding a decent place for lunch in Portland was a dismal prospect for a city that especially prides itself on being a hot bed of creative dining after sunset. There have always been the sandwich shops or Commercial St. chowder houses, which tend to be tourist havens.

As for  Congress St., still a sprawling urban melting pot for one and all, some of its many restaurants, with obvious exceptions,  seem to come and go around the first of the month when the rent comes due.

Muchness is defined by Merriam-Webster as "the quality or state of being great in quantity, extent, or degree. — much of a muchness. : very much the same." And so it is on June 10th in Portland.

       

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Petite Jacqueline, sitting very pretty indeed on Longfellow Square in Portland, is just what I expected it to be: a modern-day bistro with all the classic accoutrements of the genre. 

       

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The small-plate blitz continues unabated at many new and established Portland restaurants. But like the matador in the ring, I’m still old school in my dining habits and prefer three solid courses from start to finish. When I dine out it’s the food I’m after not a conceptualized pupu platter.

Still modernist cuisine is good when it’s good and I’ve had some very enlightened meals lately at so-called small plate establishments.

   

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The second floor of the Portland Public House nestled on Monument Square is such a haven for foodies that lesser epicureans might consider it merely a hangout  for cheap eats..

        

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Portland’s outdoor farmer’s market in Deering Oaks Park got off to a good start this weekend under a spring sky of bright blue painted with puffy clouds and pleasant 60-degree temperatures.